INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATIONShubham, Nimish, Nihar, Shivangi, Gopinath

Structure of the presentation Global civilization’s Timeline

Introduction

Excavations

Phases oh Harappan civilization

Town planning system

Citadel

Important cities of IVC

Economic life

End of civilization

Introduction to Indus Valley Civilization.

TIMELINE

INTRODUCTION

BRONZE AGE CIVILIZATION

TIME PERIOD=3300BCE to 1300 BCE(4100 years back)

One of the 3 early civilizations (Meso, Ancient Egypt, Indus Valley)

Also known as Harappan civilization.

Extended situated on the basins of from what today is northwest Afganisthan to Pakistan.

It was situated on the basins of Indus river(today’s dried up Saraswati river)coursed through northwest India and eastern Pakistan.

It may had a population of over 5million.

INTRODUCTION…

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Harappa was first site to be excavated in 1920s.

Excavation took place mainly in general regions of Indus river and Ghaggra Harakra rivers and their main tributaries.

Until1999, 1056 cities had been found ,out of which 96 have been excavated .

EXCAVATIONS

Phases of Harappan civilization

Early Harappan civilization.( 3300BC to 2800 BC)

Mature Harappan civilization.

Late Harappan civilization.

Early Harappan civilizationPeriod - 3300BC to 2800 BC

Related to Hakra phase

Characterized by centralized authority and increased quality of life

Trade network was established and domestication of crops

kalibhanjan in India

kot daji ,peas, sesame seeds , dates were grown

SITES OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

1. Mohenjo-daro

2. Harappa

3. Kalibangam

4. Rakhigarhi

5. Dolavira

6. Lothal

7. Surkotada

Mature Harappan civilization By 2600 , IVC entered in this phase

Early communities were turning into large centers

Harappa and Mohanjo- Daro in Pakistan

Lothal in India.

Introduced concept of irrigation

GeographyRich agricultural land surrounded.

Dry river beds along Ghaggra Hakra river(50cities).

Civilization had same situation as those in Egypt and Peru.

Town Planning System and General Development Pattern of Indus

Valley Cities.

Town Planning System

The Town Planning System of Indus Valley Civilization was city based.

The excellent drainage and sanitation systems are remarkable.

Urban CitiesThe Indus civilization flourished around cities.

A Sophisticated urban culture.

The ruins of the cities show remarkable town planning, and excellent system of drainage and sanitation of the Indus Valley Civilization.

The city was the heart of the civilization. EgHarappa, Mohenjo daro, Lothal, Dolavira

LOTHAL MOHENJO DARO

DHOLAVIRA KALIBHANGAN

Division of CitiesAlmost all the cities were divided into two parts –

1] A CITADEL, on Western Side

2] A LOWER TOWN, on Eastern Side.

The CITADEL consisted of large structures which functioned as Administrative Buildings.

LOWER TOWN consisted of housing for people

Citadel

CITADEL

LOWER TOWN

GENERAL HOUSING SYSTEM

The houses can be divided into three main groups viz.

1.Dwelling houses,

2.Larger buildings,

3.Public baths.

HOUSING SYSTEM

Town dwellers were divided into various social classes.

The Rich and the Ruling class lived in the multi-roomed spacious houses.

Poorer section lived in small tenements.

The public building and big houses were situated on the streets.

HOUSING SYSTEM

Encroachment on public roads or lanes by building houses was not permitted.

The modest houses were situated on the lanes.

Buildings And Housing

Smaller houses had two rooms, while larger houses had many rooms.

They were plain, utilitarian and comfortable to live.

Some of the buildings were probably multi-storied

Buildings And HousingMost of the houses had baths, wells and covered drains connected with street drains.

Ordinary buildings had little ventilation arrangements, as doors and windows were rarely fixed in the outer walls.

Doors of entrance were fixed not on the front wall but on the side walls.

One could enter a house by the door facing the side lanes of the house.

The doors were made of wood.

Large buildings had spacious doors.

BUILDING MATERIALNo stone built house in the Indus cities.

Most of the houses were built of burnt bricks.

Unburnt sun-dried bricks were also used.

That portion of the buildings where contamination with water was possible, burnt bricks were used.

For other parts sun-dried bricks were used.

Most of the bricks were of equal size.

The staircases of big buildings were solid; the roofs were flat and were made of wood

STREETS

The streets were broad varying from 9 feet to 34 feet.

They ran straight to a mile.

They were suitable for wheeled traffic.

Lanes were joined with the streets.

Each lane had a public welt.

Street lamps were provided for welfare of public.

DRAINAGE SYSTEMThe elaborate drainage system was a remarkable feature of the civilization.

No ancient civilization before, had such an advanced drainage and sanitation system.

Each house had horizontal and vertical drains.

House drains emptied themselves into the main drains which ran under the main streets and below many lanes.

DRAINAGE SYSTEMThere were underground drains for the streets.

These drains were covered by stone slabs.

The soak pits were made of bricks.

The house drains were connected with road drains.

CITADEL

The Granary of Harappan Civilization2 rows of 6 rooms and a Central

Passageway about 7 meters

wide, paved with Baked Bricks.

Each room of 15.2 by 6.1 meters.

Small triangular opening may

have served as air ducts to allow

the flow of fresh air beneath the

hollow floors.

GREAT PUBLIC BATH

THE GREAT PUBLIC BATH

An impressive building, used as a public bath.

The bathing pool is 39 feet by 23 feet with 8 feet depth.

There is a system to fill and empty the water of the bathing pool

There are galleries and rooms on all sides of the bathing pool.

This public bath was attached to the Mohenjo-Daro fort where upper class people lived.

IMPORTANT CITIES OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

IMPORTANT CITIES•Uniform culture over a wide area

•Cities built on a common plan

-a grid: always NS and EW axes •Mohenjo-daro

•Harappa

•Kalibangan

•Rakhigarhi

•Dholavira

•Lothal

•Surkotada

Theancientweb.com

The city of trade

On the banks of a tributary of the river Bhogavo which joined Sabarmati -which fell into the Gulf of Khambat

Average width of periphery wall

– 12 m thk.

hindunet.org

LOTHAL

3.2m

Raised platform for bathing-

30 cms above ground level

2.5 m

BEAD- MAKING KILNDRAINAGE

60 cms.

DOCK was used for trade of beads and other valuable for spices

National museum

National museum

Youtube.com

LOTHAL

LOCATION- IN KUTCH DISTRICT GUJARAT

hindunet.org

DHOLAVIRA

DHOLAVIRA was 2nd largest site of Indus Valley Civilization

Hindunet.org

Hindunet.org

RESERVOIR AT DHOLAVIRA SITE

DHOLAVIRA

Water carried to reservoir though covered channels

Sketch depicting water canalized from dam to the reservoir

•The city of Dholavira in its fullest form was proportionate and proportionality resolved configuration following a resolute set of principles of planning and architecture with

mathematical precision.

Division Width Length Ratio

City, internal 616.87 711.10 4 : 5

Castle, internal at available top 92 114 4 : 5

Castle, external (as per present exposure) 118 151 4 : 5

Citadel (castle + bailey), external approximately (including bastions) 140 280 1 : 2

Bailey, internal 120 120 1 : 1

Middle Town + Stadium, internal 290.45 340.5 6 : 7

Middle Town, excluding Stadium, internal 242 340.5 5 : 7

Stadium, internal 47.5 283 1 : 6

Lower Town, built-up area 300 300 1 : 1

asi.nic.in

DHOLAVIRA

Left bank of

saraswati river

hindunet.org

KALIBANGAN

Narrow streets Wide streets

Street-widths were: 1.8 m., 3.6m, 5.4m and 7.2 m.

(note the ratio of 1:2:3:4)

On the floors, soiling of terracotta nodules intermixed with pieces of charcoal was overlaid with the clay floor

sealing of clay in the houses

CONSTRUCTION

1.8 m

5.4 m

National museumNational museum

KALIBANGAN

The city excelled in CLAY, COPPER & BRONZE work

BRONZE BULL

CLAY SEALS were extracted in plentyAnd figureswereembossed

TERACOTTA BULL

BULL was an essential figure as it was used in agriculture

It depicts a prosecution of seven men wearing kilts & helmets and attacking a tiger

Hindunet.org

Hindunet.org

Hindunet.org

Hindunet.org

KALIBANGAN

HARAPPA

The southern reservoir of the citadel

The circular working platforms located to the south of the "granary" or Great Hall.

They were used for husking grain.

Mound F,A plan of circular platforms; B sections of sediments above platform and section through central pit..

Even at that time, structures were plastered; with mud

Harappa.com

Harappa.com

HARAPPA

MOHENJO-DARO

The site plan of mohenjo-daro showing the city and locations of the city and the citadel with the view of the great bath.

hindunet.org

Storm water drains in the castle

A huge well in the castle

PUSHKARINI a stepped tank in castle

INTERPRETATION OF

ARCHEOLOGISTSA view of the GREAT BATH in the CITADEL of mohenjo-daro; computer generated according to the interpretation of the archaeologists

A view of the multi-storey GRANARY in the CITADEL; used for storage with small entrances were goods are taken through pulleys.

www.flickr.com

THE GREAT BATH THE GRANARY

EONOMIC LIFE OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

ECONOMIC LIFE

AGRICULTURE & ANIMAL HUSBANDRY were backbone of economy.

Flourished due to availability of plenty of WATER,FERTILE BASINS OF INDUS,PASTURE LANDS

EXTERNAL TRADE dominated URBAN CENTERS

CRAFT CENTERS

CHAHUNDRA was a small settlement dedicated to bead making, shell making, metal cutting, weight making

SEALS AND WEIGHTS SEALS were used for LONG DISTANCE TRANSPORTATION.

SEALS were imprinted on a wet clay and that was attached to parcel.

Exchanges were regulated by precise system of WEIGHTS.

It had cubical shape, and made up of stone called chert

TOYS

BULLOCK KART TOYS

TOYS

TERACOTTA BULLOCK CART BULLOCK CART

TOYS

DICE AT MOHENJADARO

MRS.HARAPPAN MR.HARAPPAN

ORNAMENTS

Both women and men were found of ornaments made up of gold,silver,copper

Ornaments were decorated with precious stone like jade,carnelian,agate,lapis-lazuli

ORNAMENTS

POTTERY

BURIAL POTTERY BURIAL POTTERY

POTTERY

END OF CIVILIZATION

Probable Reasons for declination of IVCThe study of archaeologist suggest main probable 6 reasons for declination of Indus valley Civilization:

1.The law of nature

2.Floods

3.Earthquakes

4.Change of the course of Indus

5.Plague

6.Foreign Invasion

1.Law of natureRenowned historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee has categorized the decay of a culture as its final stage after a culture is born and grows to its highest point of efficacy.

The Harappan culture was no exception to this general law of nature.

Its decline set in around 1800 B.C. and in course of time came its extinction.

2.FloodsThe massive floods in the Indus must have been a potent cause for the extinction of the Harappan culture.

The point is proved by the silt-clay that covers the collapsed houses at Mohenjo-Daro.

Repeated floods must have forced the people to flee the inundated places and set up permanent habitat elsewhere.

As a consequence came the decline of Harappa.

3.EarthquakesThe Harappan culture occupied an area that was prone to earthquakes as it came under a seismographic zone.

Repeated seismographic vibrations must have led to erosion that brought down the buildings.

Earthquakes constitute an important reason for the decline of Harappan culture.

4. Change of the courseof the Indus

Some Historians attribute the decline of the Harappan culture to the river Indus changing its course frequently.

As such the Indus delta shifted away from Mohenjo-Daro and water became scarce.

Water scarcity must have led to the exodus of the Harappan people to other places.

5. PlagueOutbreak of the plague epidemic is shown as a reason for the decline of Harappan civilization.

Skeletal remains from the main roads of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro as found out through archaeological efforts tell a sad story.

When an epidemic like plague visits a human habitation, it leaves its trail of death everywhere.

The scattered skeletal remains therefore lead some to attribute it to epidemic like plague, though there is no concrete proof of outbreak of plague in the region.

6.Foreign InvasionThe Aryan invasion is one of proposed reason for the decline of Harappan culture.

There is archaeological proof of genocide and skeletal remains scattered everywhere in Mohenjo-Daro.

An autopsy on these skeletons reveals damages that must have been caused by sharp objects or weapons.

Knowledge and use of iron as weapons was known to the Aryans, not to the Harappan people.

Defeat and death of the Harappan people must have come at the hands of the invading Aryans.

Direction of Aryan invasion

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